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Team finds hope despite franchise-worst shooting<br>
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By Howard Beck<br>
Staff Writer<br>
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The search for explanations, consistency, better chemistry, good karma, spiritual enlightenment and basic pride goes on, but the Lakers aren't waiting for answers. They're simply creating a new, more pleasant reality that, so far, no one else sees.<br>
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The downward spiral continued unabated Thursday night as the Lakers were routed for a second consecutive game, this time 98-71 by the New Jersey Nets.<br>
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That's three blowout losses in four games, by an average losing margin of 19.7 points. The loss to the Nets featured a new franchise-low in field-goal percentage (.302), a point total that was one shy of the team's record low and a totally ineffective game from Shaquille O'Neal.<br>
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The Lakers are 0-2 on a road trip that could determine their fate, a season-worst seven games under .500 and for the first time have a losing record with O'Neal in the lineup (7-<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> . <br>
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It would be understandable if they appeared consumed by their failures. Instead, they clung to whatever crumbs of progress they saw.<br>
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"It was better tonight," Kobe Bryant told reporters, and two dozen faces contorted in a way that screamed, "Say what?" <br>
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"I'll be totally honest with you -- we were better tonight," Bryant insisted. "We didn't hang our heads, even when we made mistakes, even when we were down 15, 17 points. Nobody hung their heads. We kept playing. We actually started playing even harder. We didn't give up on the game."<br>
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That may be true, but it still ended with the Lakers' worst loss of the season, their seventh by double digits.<br>
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O'Neal had one of his worst games since returning from toe surgery, finishing with 19 points and four rebounds in 37 minutes despite playing against the Nets' undersized centers, Jason Collins and Aaron Williams.<br>
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Six months ago, with friends and relatives from Newark cheering him on, O'Neal dominated that pair, leading the Lakers to a four-game sweep in the Finals.<br>
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Coach Phil Jackson tried to re-create the good feelings, playing the Game 4 video on the locker-room television before tipoff. But that O'Neal never showed, nor did his teammates.<br>
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O'Neal, who has scored just 36 points in the past two games, maintained his two-week media boycott.<br>
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But Jackson found encouragement in small gestures. He wanted to pull O'Neal with seven minutes to play, but O'Neal insisted on playing it through.<br>
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"We hustled, we worked hard at what we were trying to do and we played with a competitive edge," Jackson said. "That was not what we played with on Tuesday night (in the loss to Minnesota). That's a sign of this team getting some life behind them."<br>
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The Lakers were seven points down early in the fourth before surrendering consecutive jumpers to Jason Kidd and eliciting a rare bit of public rage from Jackson. After Kidd's second basket, a wide-open 18-footer, Jackson leaped to his feet to call timeout, smacking his left hand on his right fingertips so hard, it's a wonder he didn't break a finger.<br>
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It got worse from there. The Nets pulled away, extending the lead to 17 points as Kidd drove for back-to-back layups while the Lakers stood and watched.<br>
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"We can play for one quarter, and then we just lay it down. That's not going to cut it," Robert Horry said.<br>
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It was another rough night for the supporting cast -- Rick Fox went scoreless in 21 minutes, Derek Fisher scored three points and Devean George went 1 for 9 from the field.<br>
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Jackson wanted Bryant and O'Neal to carry the load and ease the burden on their demoralized teammates. But Bryant, fighting illness, was erratic, scoring 21 points on 8-of-29 shooting.<br>
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"The stats weren't great. I liked what he did," Jackson said. "He carried the thrust and the energy that we have to have as a basketball team to succeed."<br>
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With every loss, the Lakers' front office gets closer to shaking up the roster, a fact of which the players are fully cognizant. But they are trying to avoid such talk, even as they feel the added pressure.<br>
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"The bag that we all are carrying, with frustration on our shoulders, is going to make the game tougher," Fox said. "We've got to let that go. We have to go out and play with a reckless abandon."<br>
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"It was better tonight," Kobe Bryant told reporters, and two dozen faces contorted in a way that screamed, "Say what?" <br>
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